Protecting Your Own
by Hot Rod1
Summary: While having a rare quiet night, Stef and Lena get a frantic call from one of the kids.
1. Chapter 1

Protecting Your Own

Part 1. The Call

Summary - While having a rare quiet night, Stef and Lena get a frantic call from one of the kids.

Author`s Notes - Set after the summer finale I Do with some changes such as Brandon and Callie didn`t get caught kissing and Callie didn`t run away.

It was a rare quiet Saturday night at the Foster house. The kids were all out for the night. Jesus and Mariana went to the movies and go cart racing with Lexi and one of Jesus` teammates on the volleyball team, while Jude was on a fishing trip with Connor and Brandon and Callie went to a concert together. That left Stef and Lena alone to their own devices, which they fully took advantage of.  
Lena decided to give Stef a sexy surprise by dressing up as a 60s go-go dancer, complete with the mini skirt and white thigh high boots. Stef was immediately turned on by the sight of Lena all dressed up, which insured about a couple of hours of marital bliss for the ladies. Afterwards, Stef and Lena showered, go dressed in their pajamas to fix themselves a late night snack. Jesus and Mariana entered the house a few minutes before their 11 pm weekend curfew.

"Hey guys." Stef yelled out from the kitchen, which got the twins` attention.

"How was your night?" Lena asked as Jesus and Mariana came into the kitchen.

"It was fine." Jesus replied. "I dominated everyone at the go cart track yet again."

"That was only because you were bumping everyone as usual." Mariana said while rolling her eyes.

"What about the movie?" Stef asked as she was fixing a sandwich. "Is it as bad as the critics say it is?

"I thought that the movie was good." Mariana said.

"What`s your review of it Jesus?" Lena asked. "Did you have a hard time having to sit through a chick flick?"

"It was pretty sappy," Jesus replied as he got a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "but it did have some obvious benefits. Besides i owed it to Lexi after i had her sit through Iron Man 3."

"Well it`s nice to see you being such a considerate boyfriend."

"Now how things went between you and Eric?" Stef asked. "Enquiring minds want to know Miss Thing."

"Eric was nice and a real gentleman." Mariana replied.

"So does this means this is the start of something between you two?"

"We`re still just friends mom, but you never knew."

Stef and Lena smiled at Mariana`s comment. Then Lena and Jesus cleaned up in the kitchen, while Stef was pacing around a bit and looking at her watch. Lena immediately noticed her wife`s anxiousness.

"Are you alright Stef?" Lena asked.

"Brandon and Callie are late." Stef replied. "It`s not like them to be out after curfew."

"I`m sure they have a good reason for being late."

Stef and Lena then sat down on the couch to watch a movie on TV with Jesus and Mariana. About 30 minutes later, Stef`s cell phone was ringing. She picked it up off of the table and saw from the I.D. that was from Callie.

"Hey Callie." Stef answered. "How come you and Brandon haven`t come home yet?"

"Stef you gotta come here." A shaken Callie replied.

"What happened honey?"

Lena, Jesus and Mariana watched as Stef got up from the couch and immediately knew that something was wrong when they saw a very worried look on Stef`s face.

To be continued.


	2. Chapter 2

Protecting Your Own Part 2 - Scene of the Crime

Summary - Stef gets a frantic call from Callie and goes to see what happened with her and Brandon.

"What happened honey?" Stef asked as she got up from the couch.

"It was Liam." Callie stammered with a shaken voice.

"What did he do?"

"Me and Brandon went to get some ice cream from the store and he came out of his jeep, telling me that it was my fault his life is screwed up, he grabbed me and then he and Brandon got into a fight."

Stef was immediately filled with dread and a sickeningly sense of fear that Liam hurt Brandon.

"Is Brandon alright?"

"Brandon is shaken up and bruised," Callie replied "but Liam is hurt pretty badly."

"How bad is he?"

"Brandon hit him in the head with a pipe pretty hard and he started shaking and his head started bleeding."

Stef rushed upstairs to her and Lena`s bedroom where she entered the combination to the safe where she got her Glock 9mm and then picked up her badge from the dresser.

"Are you still there?" Callie asked.

"Yeah sweetie." Stef replied as she got her brown leather jacket from the closet. "What did you and Brandon do afterwards?"

"I went back in the store to get help and Brandon called 911."

"Listen Callie i need you and Brandon to stay where you are. I`m going to call Mike and we`ll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay." Callie said.

"We`ll take of this alright."

Stef hanged up on the call and traced where Brandon and Callie were. Lena came into the room as Stef was putting on a pair of sneakers.

"What happened." Lena said with a worried look on her face.

"Brandon and Callie ran into Liam." Stef replied as she finished tying her shoes.

Lena`s heart immediately starting beating faster at the mention of Liam. "Did he do anything to them?"

"Callie told me that Liam confronted her, which led to him and Brandon getting into a fight where Brandon ended up hitting him pretty hard in the head with a pipe."

Stef and Lena then headed downstairs and went outside on the porch. Lena was filled with worry and looked on glumly as Stef called Mike.

"Hey Mike. Something happened with Brandon and Callie a few minutes ago."

"What happened?" Mike asked with an anxious tone in his voice.

"Remember that guy Liam that i told you about?"

"Yeah. Let me guess, he went after Brandon and Callie. Please tell me that he didn`t do anything to them."

"Callie told me that he confronted her and it led to a fight where Brandon ended up hitting Liam pretty hard in the head."

"How badly is he hurt?"

"Callie told me that he was in pretty bad shape. She went to get help and Brandon called 911."

"Where are they are at?"

"They`re at the Exxon station on Mission Bay Drive."

"I`ll meet you there."

Stef got in the SVU after finishing the call with Mike while Lena looked on with a sad look on her face.

"Please bring them home Stef." Lena said.

"I will." Stef said before she kissed Lena goodbye and drove off into the night.

Lena could only look on as Stef drove away. She hated feeling so helpless whenever Stef got an emergency call and felt even more so with Brandon and Callie in danger. She couldn`t get the shooting out of her mind and sometimes wondered if something terrible would happened since Stef went back on duty.

"Hey what happened?" Jesus asked as he and Mariana met Lena outside.

"Something happened with Brandon and Callie." Lena replied. "Liam confronted them."

"Please tell me that he didn`t do anything to them." Mariana said with a frantic look on her face,

"I don`t know the exact details yet, but Callie told Stef that Brandon hit Liam in the head with a pipe and he`s hurt badly."

"How are Brandon and Callie? Jesus asked. "Are they alright?"

"Callie said that Brandon was a bit roughed up. That`s all i know right now. Listen lets go back inside."

Lena, Jesus and Mariana immediately went back in the house and resumed watching TV. However all they could think about was Brandon and Callie. After a few minutes, they turned off the TV and headed to bed.

"Hey guys." Lena said before the twins went to their rooms. "I know that you`re worried about Brandon and Callie, but you have to believe that Stef is going to bring them back home safe. Alright."

Jesus and Mariana could only nod in reply. Lena hugged them both before they went their separate ways for a sleepless night.

*******

Stef drove fast as legally possible to the store. She had the police scanner on to hear any updates from the store. Stef felt a mixture of worry and regret. She knew that Liam was bad news, but didn`t think that he would go after her kids. However Stef felt a renewed determination to do whatever it took to protect her kids even more than ever. Then she saw Mike driving behind her and had him follow her to the store, which had three police cars and a couple of ambulances with their red and blue lights flashing. Stef and Mike parked their cars a few feet from the scene and immediately went over to the scene as soon as they got out of their cars.

"Hey could you two stay behind the line?" Said a young officer.

"We`re cops too." Stef said as she and Mike flashed their badges. "Is there a young man and young woman named Brandon Foster and Callie Jacob over there?"

"Yeah. Are they any relations to you?"

"He`s our son and she lives with Stef." Mike said.

The young officer immediately guided Stef and Mike to the scene where they saw Callie standing by one of the ambulances. Stef ran over and embraced her in a hug.

"Are you alright sweetie?" Stef asked.

"I`m fine." Callie replied with a worried look on her face.

"Where`s Brandon?" Mike asked.

"He`s over there." Callie said pointing to Brandon being given an ice pack for his ribs.

Stef, Mike and Callie immediately rushed over to Brandon and saw that he was bruised up with a bloodied lip and some swelling on the left side of his face, but was fine physically otherwise.

"Oh B." Stef said as she hugged him.

"Ouch Mom." Brandon moaned as Stef touched his battered ribs.

"I`m sorry baby. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Just some bumps and bruises."

"Where`s Liam?" Mike asked.

Brandon immediately pointed over to where three EMTs were working on him. Liam was unconscious on a stretcher with an oxygen mask on his face, his head heavily bandaged and a neck brace to stablize his neck and spine. Stef and Mike looked on stoically as Liam was lifted into the ambulance. Then as Liam was being taken away to the hospital, Stef and Mike saw the old lead pipe that Brandon hit Liam with being held by an officer in a plastic bag along with a spot of blood on the ground where Liam was lying. They had seen many scenes like this before, but now their immediate concern was on what could happen next with Brandon and Callie, especially if Liam doesn`t make it.

"Brandon we need to know what happened." Mike said.

to be continued.

"Where`s Brandon?" Mike asked.

"He`s over there." Callie said pointing to Brandon being given an ice pack for his ribs.

Stef, Mike and Callie immediately rushed over to Brandon and saw that he was bruised up with a bloodied lip and some swelling on the left side of his face, but was fine physically otherwise.

"Oh B." Stef said as she hugged him.

"Ouch Mom." Brandon moaned as Stef touched his battered ribs.

"I`m sorry baby. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Just some bumps and bruises."

"Where`s Liam?" Mike asked.

Brandon immediately pointed over to where three EMTs were working on him. Liam was unconscious on a stretcher with an oxygen mask on his face, his head heavily bandaged and a neck brace to stablize his neck and spine. Stef and Mike looked on stoticly as Liam was lifted into the ambulance. Then as Liam was being taken away to the hospital, Stef and Mike saw the old lead pipe that Brandon hit Liam with being held by an officer in a plastic bag along with a spot of blood on the ground where Liam was lying. They had seen many scenes like this before, but now their immediate concern was on what could happen next, especially if Liam doesn`t make it.

"Brandon we need to know what happened." Mike said.

to be continued.


	3. Chapter 3

Protecting Your Own Part 3 - What Really Happened

Summary - Brandon and Callie tell what happened in the incident with Liam

Disclaimer - I didn`t create most of the characters in this story. They are the property of Bradley Bredeweg, Peter Paige and ABC Family. All infringements are unintentional.

Author`s note - A portion of this part will be a flashback of the altercation between Brandon, Callie and Liam and will contain some strong violence.

"Brandon we need to know what happened." Mike said as he leaned on the ambulance.

Brandon hesistated for a moment to gather his thoughts. "It all started when me and Callie-"

"Excuse me." One of the EMTs interrupted. "We need to get him to the hospital."

"Alright." Stef said. "Brandon are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah mom, i`m going to be fine."

"I`ll ride with Brandon if you two won`t mind." Callie said.

"We`re fine with that." Mike said.

"We`ll make sure the car is towed back home." Stef said as Callie got in the ambulance with Brandon. Stef and Mike went to get in their car and follow the ambulance to the hospital.

Stef brought her car to a stop in the hospital parking lot. She immediately felt a pit in her stomach being back at a hospital for the first time since the shooting. However she composed herself and went inside with Mike. Stef waited for twenty minutes in the waiting room, while Mike went outside to make a couple of calls before they were told that they could head up to the fourth floor to see Brandon.

"A couple of detectives are on their way to question Brandon and Callie." Mike said to break the silence in the elevator.

"Who are the detectives? Stef asked.

"Detectives Carmichael and Guerrero."

"I`ve heard Carmichael`s a standup guy, but i don`t know much about Guerrero other than that she recently got promoted."

Stef and Mike got off the elevator at the fourth floor and headed over to the room where Brandon was being held. A doctor was there to greet them.

"Hi there i`m Doctor Fields." Doctor Fields introduced himself to Stef and Mike. "You must be his parents."

"Yes we are." Stef replied.

"How is Brandon?" Mike asked.

"Brandon sustained no serious injuries. He has some bruises, a bloody lip and sore ribs. He`ll need to take it easy for a few days at least. Other than that he`s free to leave."

"Thank you doc." Mike said as he and Stef went in the room to check on Brandon, who was putting his shirt on. Callie came in the room a couple of minutes later after using the restroom.

"Hey you`re alright?" Mike asked as he sat down next to Brandon.

"I`m fine Dad." Brandon replied. "My ribs feel pretty sore."

"I hope that you`ll take it easy for a few days." Stef said.

"Look about what happened-" A knock on the door immediately interrupted Brandon. Everyone turned around to see a middle aged man and younger woman standing at the door.

"Excuse us." Detective Carmichael said. "I`m Detective Joseph Carmichael and this is Detective Valentina Guerrero."

"Hi there detectives." Stef greeted the detective. "I`m Officer Stef Foster, Brandon`s mother and this is-"

"We know who you are." Detective Guerrero interrupted Stef. "How have you been doing after the shooting?"

"I`m doing better, although i`m still not there physically."

"Everyone was pretty worried about you."

"Listen we need to ask Brandon and Callie some questions about what happened."

"Can this wait until the morning?" Mike asked. "They`ve been through a lot and need some rest."

"I`m sorry, but it can`t wait."

Stef, Mike, Brandon and Callie looked at each other with very wary looks. They badly wanted for this night to be over with so that they can go home.

"Look i`ll answer your question." Callie said to break the silence.

"Yeah i`ll do the same thing." Brandon said.

"Do you want to question them separately or together?" Stef asked.

"We`ll go ahead and question them separately." Detective Carmichael replied.

"Callie you don`t mind if we go into another room?" Detective Guerrero asked.

"No i don`t." Callie replied with a nod.

"I`ll come with you." Stef said as she got up to escort Callie and Detective Guerrero down the hall. She took one last look at Brandon as she was walking away and saw him sitting with a haggard, but poised look on his face. Stef wanted very much to be in the room with Brandon, but felt secure that he was in good hands with Mike there with him.

The ladies went down the hall to an empty room. Callie and Stef sat down as Detective Guerrero closed the door. Callie took a deep breath as she got ready to tell Detective Guerrero what happened.

I can`t believe that he tried to do a freestyle." Callie said.

"Yeah he sounded so bad." Brandon said as he drove the car. "I can`t get over how much he struggled to get the words out while trying to rap fast."

"I know and he had that deer in the headlights look." Brandon and Callie both laughed at their retelling of what happened at the concert and then shared a mutual smile at each other. They both felt a lot more at ease with each other since they decided to slow things down after their kiss before Stef and Lena`s wedding and felt good about having a nice night together with no pressures and worries.

"Hey i`m going to stop here to get some ice cream." Brandon said as he drove to the Exxon station. "Mom forget to get some. You want any?"

"Yeah." Callie said as Brandon parked the car. "Please don`t forget to get cookies & cream. You know how Jude and Mariana get when they don`t get any."

"Oh i know their disapproving looks all too well." Brandon said as he and Callie entered the store. Brandon went to get a pint each of chocolate and cookies & cream ice cream, while Callie got some candy for Jude.

"Did you get me any?" Brandon asked playfully as he and Callie got in line at the cash register.

"You`ll have to share with Jude." Callie replied with a sly smile. "I can`t guarantee if he`ll save you any."

Brandon and Callie shared a nice laugh as they moved up the line to pay for the ice cream and candy. They went outside the store and sudden heard a familar voice in the night.

"Hey." A man yelled.

Brandon and Callie turned around and saw that it was Liam, who walked over to them.

"Just walk away." Brandon said as he and Callie moved toward the car.

"I was talking to you." Liam said as he blocked Callie`s path to the door.

"What do you want?" Callie said. "You`re not suppose to be anywhere near me."

"I wanted to let you know what you`ve done to my life with you being up those charges. I`ve lost a good job because of you. I was about to be promote and then the manager told me that i was being relieved of my duties, saying that this is a family company and they didn`t feel comfortable with me working there. Plus there was Sarah being taken from my parents, who can hardly look at me."

"That`s not my problem."

"I think that it is." Liam said as he got closer to Callie.

"Don`t say another word." Brandon said as he stepped in front of Callie to come face to face with Liam. "I think you better back off now."

"Oh so you`re going to play the white knight now are ya?"

"My parents are cops and they wouldn`t hesitate to kick your ass if you touch either one of us."

"Oh so you`re going to let mommy and daddy fight for you." Liam said as he shoved Brandon. "What are you going to do about? Huh?"

"Get in the car Callie." Brandon said as Liam shoved him harder, knocking Callie against the car door, which caused her to drop the ice cream to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Brandon asked as Liam gave him a shove against the car door as he was about to help Callie get the ice cream up.

At that moment, Brandon had enough of Liam shoving him around. He immediately flared with anger and with sudden force, hit Liam with a left hook in the nose. Liam was stunned by the punch. He immediately touched his nose and saw some blood on his hand.

"You`re fucking dead!" Liam yelled as he charged toward Brandon, pinned him against the car with his weight and landed a couple of punches to Brandon`s ribs. Brandon moaned with pain when Liam`s fist landed on his ribs. However he showed some resolve by wiggling away from the car and landed some punches of his own to Liam`s stomach. Then Liam wrapped his arms around Brandon and used his superior strength to wrestle him over to a dumpster behind the store.

"Leave him alone!" Callie yelled as Liam landed a hard right to Brandon`s nose and then landed four more punches to his ribs and stomach before Brandon collapsed to the ground.

"Stay down." Liam said while breathing heavily. "Don`t try to be a hero."

Just as Liam was about to walk away from a beaten and battered Brandon, he was suddenly hit in the face with a beer bottle by Callie and yelled out in pain.

Callie quickly rushed over to Brandon. "Come on lets get out of here." Callie said as she tried to help Brandon to his feet. However she got interrupted by a hard slap to the face by a bloody Liam, which caused her to trip for a moment before Liam grabbed her left arm.

"See what you made me do!" Liam yelled in Callie`s face. "This is all your fault you stupid bitch."

"Let me go." Callie said as she tried to fight back by kicking at Liam`s groin, which he blocked by moving his hips and then he tightened his death grip on Callie`s arm, which caused her to moan in pain.

"All this could`ve been avoided if Brandon didn`t try to play the hero." Liam took a quick look back at Brandon, who was slowly trying to get back on his feet. "Oh i get it now. He must have a thing for you. This is so typical of you to fall for your foster brother. It`s too bad he`s finding out the hard way what a no good piece of sh-"

Out of nowhere, Liam was suddenly interrupted by a hard blow to the head, which knocked him down. Callie quickly loosen his grip off of her arm and saw Brandon standing by with, holding a lead pipe.

"Are you alright?" Brandon asked as he got near Callie. "Did he hurt you?

"No." Callie replied.

Brandon and Callie looked at each other for a moment. They were relieved to see that neither of them were seriously hurt. Then Brandon turned his attention toward Liam, who was very dazed and slowly staggering to his knees. Brandon stared at Liam right in the eyes and immediately felt a smoldering anger inside him verging on hatred toward Liam. All he could think about at that moment was Liam raping Callie, causing her so much pain that still haunts her, getting her and Jude kicked out of the house and then getting away with it. Brandon`s anger built up to an inferno inside him, which caused him to tighten his grip to the pipe. Then he took three steps toward Liam; who was almost up on both feet; grabbed the pipe with both hands much like a baseball bat and took a swing.

"Brandon no!" Callie yelled as Brandon took a forceful swing with the pipe and connected with Liam`s skull. The only sound they heard was the sickeningly thud of the pipe hitting Liam`s skull, which caused him to collapse on the ground in a heap. Brandon briefly readied himself to take another swing before he felt Callie`s hand on his right shoulder.

"Please don`t do it." Callie pleaded to Brandon. She was frightened by the look of rage and hatred on his face. Callie had seen Brandon angry before, but she never thought that he was capable of losing control like this. Brandon gathered himself by taking a deep breath and dropped the pipe to the ground. He took a quick look at Callie and then saw Liam lying on the ground with blood coming from where he hit him in the skull. Brandon and Callie slowly made their way toward the proned Liam, who immediately started having a convulsion.

"Oh my god." Callie said with a fearful look on her face. "I`m going to go get some help."

"I`ll call 911." Brandon said as he dialed the numbers on his cell phone and then went to get a blanket to cover Liam. As he looked down at Liam, Brandon felt a mixture of relief, regret and distress over the situation he found himself in. All he could do was stand there and wait on some help to arrive.

"And that`s what happened." Brandon said.

"I think that we`re done here Brandon." Detective Carmichael said as a couple of knocks on the door was heard by him, Brandon and Mike. Detective Carmichael opened the door and saw Stef, Callie and Detective Guerrero standing outside after he opened the door.

"Are you done here?" Detective Guerrero asked.

"Yeah." Detective Carmichael replied. "We just finished up here."

"Can i talk to you and Mike outside for a moment?"

Mike and Detective Carmichael made their way outside, while Callie came inside and saw the door being closed by Detective Carmichael.

"How did it go?" Callie asked as she moved near Brandon.

"It was so tough having to relive what happened." Brandon replied with a weary tone in his voice. "How about you?"

"It was pretty much the same thing. What do you think they`re talking about?"

"Probably something about Liam."

Brandon and Callie sat silently in the room for a moment. Neither could hardly look at each other briefly before they took a quick glance at each other to break the tension. Brandon and Callie felt very much in the dark about everything in that moment as they waited for Stef and Mike.

Stef and Mike walked down the hall with Detectives Carmichael and Guerrero to a secluded spot.

"We like to know why we`re having meet so secretly." Mike asked impatiently.

"We didn`t want to say this in front of the kids," Detective Carmichael said. "but it`s about Liam."

"What about him?" Stef said. "He`s not dead is he?"

"No," Detective Guerrero replied. "but he`s in critical condition. We asked around and found out that the EMTs lost him for a moment, but were able to bring him back. That`s all we know right now."

"Normally we wouldn`t do," Detective Carmichael said. "but this is a professional courtesy to both."

"We understand." Stef said. "Is there anything else you want with the kids?"

"No we got all that we need from them."

"We`ll be in touch with you both and your captain." Detective Guerrero said.

"Thanks a lot." Mike said as he shook the detectives` hands.

"Hey no problem." Detective Carmichael said. "Just get back home safely and get some rest."

"We will."

Stef and Mike headed back to the room after parting ways with the detectives and got Brandon and Callie to come with them to head downstairs. The elevator ride was very silent with everyone feeling exhausted.

"You guys alright?" Stef asked. Brandon and Callie replied with a silent nod.

"Listen mom," Brandon said. "Is it alright if i stayed with dad tonight? I need some time to myself."

Normally Stef would`ve questioned Brandon on him going back with Mike instead of coming home with her, but she saw how spent he was by the forelorn look on his face. "Okay B." Stef said as she touched his hair. "Get some rest baby."

"I will. Tell everyone else that i`m doing fine and thinking about them."

Stef gave Brandon a hug goodbye before she and Callie went back to the SUV. As Brandon walked to Mike`s, he took one last look back at Callie, who also looked back while Stef called Lena on her cell phone. They didn`t say a single word and only nodded at each other as their way to say goodbye and silently reassure one another.

To be continued


	4. Chapter 4

Protecting Your Own Part 4 - The Next Day

Summary - Brandon and Callie struggle to deal with the aftermath of their altercation with Liam.

Disclaimer - I didn`t create any of the characters in this story. They are the property of Bradley Bredeweg, Peter Paige and ABC Family. All infringement are unintentional.

Lena tossed and turned in the bed for a few minutes before she got up and went downstairs to the kitchen. She wasn`t able to sleep due to the anxiety of not knowing what was happening with Brandon and Callie. As Lena fixed poured herself a glass of orange juice and then sat at the kitchen table, she looked outside the window. She felt so helpless in that moment and wanted nothing more than for Stef to come back home with Brandon and Callie. A few minutes later, Lena heard her cell phone buzzing. She picked it up off the counter and saw on the I.D. that it was Stef.

"Hey, how are Brandon and Callie?" Lena asked.

"They`re both pretty shaken up," Stef replied. "but otherwise they`re safe. Brandon went back with Mike to stay with him tonight."

Lena breathed out a sigh of relief immediately when Stef updated her on Brandon and Callie. "Do you know anything about Liam?"

"Well the detectives that questioned Brandon and Callie told me that Liam is in critical condition, which is all that we know."

"Please come back home to us."

"Don`t worry honey. We`re on our way."

"Be safe." Lena said as she ended the call. She felt a huge weight lifed off of her after learning that Brandon and Callie were safe, but at the same time, couldn`t help but wonder what kind of consequences were awaiting them, especially if Liam didn`t make it.

Mariana lied in her bedroom and tried to listen to some music on her iPod to help her fall asleep, but she kept looking over at Callie`s empty bed. Mariana was beside herself with worry about Brandon and Callie and felt overwhelmed by her helplessness. After a few minutes, she got up and went over to Jesus` room.

"Jesus." Mariana whispered as she entered the room. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." Jesus replied as he rolled over to see Mariana.

"I`m sorry that i woke you up."

"Don`t worry about it. I couldn`t sleep at all either."

Mariana sat down on Jude`s bed. She and Jesus sat silently in the dark for a few minutes. The twins always kept each other company whenever either one of them wasn`t able to sleep for long as they could remember and tonight was one of those nights.

"I feel so helpless not knowing what happened with Brandon and Callie." Mariana said with a somber look on her face.

"I know how ya feel," Jesus said. "but Mom`s out there right now and she`s going to bring them back home."

"If Liam hurt either of them, his ass is so dead." Mariana growled with a burning anger.

"I feel ya on that." Jesus said. "I wouldn`t hesitate to beat his ass if i had the chance."

Jesus and Mariana heard Lena talking to Stef on the phone downstairs and sneaked over by the stairs to listen to what Lena was saying. The twins got a view of Lena in the living room and felt relived when they learned that Brandon and Callie were alright and on their way home with Stef. After seeing Lena finishing her call, they went back to Jesus and Jude`s bedroom.

"You don`t mind if i stayed with you at least until Callie gets home?" Mariana asked.

"No you can stay." Jesus replied. "I didn`t feel like being alone right anyway."

Jesus and Mariana then sat down in the beds to patiently wait for Stef and Callie to return home.

Stef slowly made her way through the night, driving in the SUV. The ride was very silent with neither her or Callie saying a word. Stef took a look over at Callie and saw how distressed and weary she looked. She felt so much sympathy for Callie and hated that she had to experience yet another terrible moment in her young life. After a few minutes, Stef made her way to the neighborhood and slowly pulled into the driveway at the house.

"Hey you wanna talk?" Stef asked as she turned off the engine.

"I feel so awlful right now." Callie said. "I just feel like all of what happened tonight is my fault."

Stef immediately felt very distressed hearing Callie say those words and then seeing her drop her head in shame.

"Hey look at me." Stef said as she put the palm of her hand on top of Callie`s hand. "None of this is your fault. You and Brandon didn`t intent for any of this to happen and only wanted a good night out. I`m very proud of you both for having each other`s back."

"Thank you." Callie said while smiling back at Stef.

The ladies got out of the SUV and made their way to the house.

"I`m sorry about what happened with the ice cream." Callie said as she and Stef made their way to the porch.

"It`s alright sweetie." Stef said. "What matters is that you and Brandon are safe. By the way did you get cookies and cream?"

"Yes we did."

"Well it`s nice to see that you and Brandon were so thoughtful on not forgetting about that."

Stef and Callie shared a brief laugh as they entered the house where they were immediately greeted by Lena.

"I`m so glad to see you two." Lena said as she gave Stef and Callie big hugs. "How are you doing callie?"

"I`m starting to feel better." Callie replied as she saw Jesus and Mariana make their way downstairs. Mariana ran over to Callie and embraced in her a hug, which Callie hugged her back. Then she went to hug Jesus.

"We`re so glad to see you." Mariana said. "We couldn`t sleep, thinking about you and Brandon."

"Where is Brandon?" Jesus asked.

"He`s staying with Mike tonight." Stef replied. "Look it`s been a long night. I think that we could all use some sleep."

Everyone silently went upstairs and headed to their rooms to bring an end to what had been one of their longest nights.

On a partly cloudy Sunday morning, Brandon begin to stir in the bed in the spare bedroom that Mike had kept for him. As Brandon started to get up, he immediately felt the lingering soreness in his ribs and grimaced when he stood up. Then he went in the bathroom to brush his teeth and take a shower, which took 15 minutes. After drying himself off and getting dressed, Brandon sat at the piano that Mike had rented for him and started playing a few notes. Lately he had been getting more about what his piano teacher said about using pain to play much better.

"That was pretty good." Mike said as he entered the kitchen.

"Thanks." Brandon replied as he stopped playing.

"You can keep on playing."

"I don`t feel like it."

Mike immediately saw on the sad look on Brandon`s face that the altercation from the previous night was still bothering him and sat down next to him. "You wanna talk about what happened?"

"I can't stop thinking about i did to Liam." Brandon said. "It was eerie seeing him lying on the ground."

"Don`t beat yourself over it B. You did what you had to do to protect yourself and Callie."

"I know Dad, but what makes it so bad is that i lost myself in that moment. After i hit Liam with the pipe the first time, i looked at him right in the eyes and all i could think about was what he did to Callie and then getting her and Jude kicked out. I never felt so angry before and it just overwhelmed me."

Mike listened intently and gave Brandon his undivided attention.

"And you wanna know what the worse part is?" Brandon said with his green eyes starting to water. "I wanted to hurt Liam. I felt so enraged about what he did to Callie that all i wanted to do in that moment was to inflict as much pain on him as possible. If Callie wasn`t there, i would`ve hit him again. That`s how bad it was."

Mike felt very saddened hearing Brandon`s confession and seeing him wiping away a tear from his face. He always felt a strong sense of duty as a father to protect Brandon and feared that something like this would happen. Mike knew how bad the world could be sometimes and always did what he could to protect Brandon. He knew that Brandon would have to face it more on his own as he got older and felt sad and somewhat helpless seeing Brandon so torn up emotionally by his ordeal. "Listen to me Brandon," Mike said as he put his hand on Brandon`s right shoulder. "What you just said doesn`t make you a bad person. It`s a natural for anyone to let their emotions get the best of them sometimes, especially when a person does something terrible to someone else and gets away with it. I felt that way myself."

Brandon silently looked back at his father with a more stoic look on his face.

"I remember this one domestic disturbance call i went to a while back." Mike said recalling an old case. "Me and my old partner went to a house in a rough neighborhood and saw that it was a mess inside from when this couple had a really bad fight. As we went to go break up the fight, i saw this little boy, who was around the same age as you at that time, hiding in a closet. I went to get him to come out there and saw him crying with a black eye. I felt so angry that this guy would hurt a little kid like that. I kept it together until this guy said a smartass remark about the kid being too stupid to move out of the way. I couldn`t take it anymore and told him that only punks hit kids and women. He told me to go screw myself and that was the final straw there. As we were about to put the guy in the car, i slammed the guy`s head on top of the car and started punching in the face a few times. My partner got me off of him before i did any more damage."

"Did anything happen to you?" Brandon asked.

"Well my partner covered it up and said that he resisted arrest," Mike replied. "but the captain knew the real story and let it slide. There`s an unwritten rule that cops some times tend to rough up abusive guys and get a pass on it as long as they didn`t seriously injure them."

"How did you feel afterwards?"

"I didn`t feel good about it at all. I had a lot of the other cops patting me on the back and telling me that i gave that guy what he deserved, but i didn`t feel like much of a hero at all. So yeah i get how you`re feeling right now. What you said about wanting to hurt Liam for what he did to Callie doesn`t make you a monster at all. It makes you as human as anyone else."

Brandon quietly contemplated the story Mike had just told him. "What if he doesn`t make it?" He asked. "I can`t help but worry about a member of his family pressing charges."

"Hey you don`t worry about that." Mike replied. "Whatever happens, you know that me, your mom, Lena and everyone else won`t let anything happen to you."

Brandon felt more at ease after opening up to Mike.

"You want any scrabbled eggs?" Mike asked as he turned on the stove.

"Yeah sure." Brandon replied as he resumed playing the piano.

Mike looked on as Brandon played the piano and felt not only a sense of relief in that he helped Brandon out by opening up about a past experience, but also a new found resolve to do whatever it took to help Brandon out with whatever could come his way.

The Foster household begin to come to life at around 10:00 am. Lena was fixing some bacon and eggs for breakfast, while Stef did some laundry. Jesus and Mariana came after they had showers and slipped on their pajamas, while Callie was still asleep. This morning was very different in how subdued everyone was after a long night, which they spent worrying about Brandon and Callie.

"So you guys got any plans today?" Lena asked as she gave Jesus and Mariana their breakfast.

"I don`t have anything planned." Mariana replied. "I probably might go to the park later."

"Yeah i`m going to the park too to do some skating." Jesus said as he got himself a fork.

A car horn was heard being blown a couple of times outside. "I`ll go get it." Jesus said as he stood up from the kitchen table. "It`s probably Connor`s dad dropping Jude off."

Stef came in the kitchen after finishing her tasks with the laundry and was more subdued, not saying any of her usual jokes. Then Jesus came back in the kitchen with Jude in tow.

"Hey there buddy." Stef said. "How was the fishing trip?"

"It was fine." Jude said. "We didn`t catch that many fish, but Connor`s dad told me about the different kind of baits to use."

"It`s nice that you learned something." Lena said. "You want anything?"

"Just some orange juice. I had already had breakfast."

As Jude poured himself a glass of orange juice, he immediately picked up on the subdued atmosphere in the house. "Why is everyone so quiet and where is Callie?" he asked.

Stef, Lena, Jesus and Mariana looked at each other for a moment. They all knew how observant Jude could be and didn`t feel like that they would be able to hide what happened in the previous night from him.

"Jude we want to talk you about something serious." Stef said as she sat down next to Jude at the kitchen table.

"Did something happen with our adoptation?" Jude asked with a worried look on his face.

"No it`s not that." Lena replied. "Something happened with Callie and Brandon last night."

"What happened?"

"They ran into Liam last night." Stef said. "Liam confronted Callie about pressing charges against him, which caused a fight."

Jude immediately felt a lot more uneasy when Stef mentioned the fight. "Did he hurt them" He asked in a quiet, shaky tone.

"Liam came out of it the worse. Brandon hit him in the head with a pipe a couple of times and he`s in the hospital right now. The only thing i`ve heard from the hospital is that he`s in criticial condition.

Jude felt a mixture of relief and uncertainty after hearing what Stef said.

"We want you guys to know that what Brandon and Callie did was to defend themselves." Lena said. "They found themselves in a situation where they wasn`t able to walk away and had to do what was necessary to get themselves out of it."

"Right now i think that it`s very important for you guys to be there for Brandon and Callie." Stef said.

Jesus, Jude and Mariana silently nodded in agreement and got to eating their breakfast.

"Can i say something mom?" Mariana asked.

"Sure." Stef said.

"I think that Brandon and Callie did the right thing, but i also think that Liam got what he deserved."

Stef immediately felt very uncomfortable when Mariana mentioned Liam, while everyone else listened on stoically.

"I know that it sounds bad, but Liam went after Brandon and Callie and we can`t forget what he did to Callie. As far as i`m concerned, Brandon did everyone a service and i hope that bastard is suffering. I like to be excused please. I lost my appetite."

Stef, Lena, Jesus and Jude were left speechless by Mariana`s strong words and said little for the rest of breakfast.

Callie finally got out of bed at around 11:30 AM. She stretched some to loosen up and then headed to the bathroom. As Callie was brushing her teeth, she overheard Mariana talking about Liam in a very firm manner. She wasn`t surprised by Mariana expressing her strong sentiment. Callie knew how much Mariana strongly disliked Liam and in a way felt a lot more comfortable having Mariana in her corner after hearing her strong opinion about Liam downstairs.

The sun shined brightly in the afternoon and warmed up the day. Callie played some notes on her guitar while sitting in the backyard. She felt a sense of tranquillity being back outside the house and playing her guitar after enduring a turblent night. As Callie begin playing at a faster pace, Jesus, Mariana and Jude came from inside the house.

"Hey buddy." Callie said as she embraced Jude in a tight hug. "How was the fishing trip? Did you catch a big one."

"Just a couple of small fishes." Jude replied. "Stef and Lena told me what happened. How are you doing?"

"I`m feeling a little better now. Thanks for saving breakfast for me."

"No problem." Jesus said. "You needed those last pancakes a lot more than we did."

"Mariana i heard what you said about Liam this morning." Callie said.

"I meant every word of it." Mariana said in a firm tone. "I still think that he got what he deserved."

"I do too." Jesus said. "I wish that i had been there to help you and Brandon out."

Callie begin to feel very uncomfortable at that moment. "I still can`t forget about seeing Brandon when he hit Liam with that pipe the second time." She said. "It was like he was in a very angry and scary trance in that moment. I shutter to think what Brandon could`ve done if i hadn`t been there to stop him and now i can`t help but wonder what could happen next, especially if Liam dies."

Everyone fell silent for a minute after listening to Callie`s statement before Mariana broke the silence by sitting next to Callie.

"Callie don`t beat yourself up about this." Mariana said as she put her arm around Callie. "You and Brandon had to do what you had to. Besides that pig isn`t worrying about."

"Yeah you guys had each other`s back." Jesus said. "Whatever happens next, you know that we got you and will fight for you."

Callie felt very reassured by Jesus and Mariana`s words. "Thanks a lot." She said with a slight smile.

"Listen we`re about to head to the park." Mariana said. "If you feel like it, you`re welcome to come with us."

"Sure. I need to get out of here."

"That`s great." Mariana said happily.

"I hope that you`ll bring your camera with ya," Jesus said. "because i really would love for you to get some great shots of me doing some tricks."

"Don`t worry i`ll be sure to make you look cool."

"I would watch out for Jesus." Jude said. "You never know when he`ll moon ya."

Jesus immediately ran over to Jude and gave him a playful bear hug, which got a laugh from Callie and Mariana. As she went back inside the house, Callie begin to feel that day was finally getting brighter after Jesus, Mariana and Jude showed their support to her.

The kitchen in the Foster-Adams house was much more livelier later that evening as Stef, Callie and Jude prepared dinner, while Jesus, Lena and Mariana looked at the pictures Callie took from their day at the park.

"That`s a great shot there of you doing that trick." Lena said in amazement while looking at a picture of Jesus riding the rail on his skateboard.

"I had a hard time staying on the rail," Jesus said. "but i finally got it on the fifth try."

"It`s nice to see that your perseverance paid off. Mariana can i talk to you for a moment."

Mariana immediately felt a sense of dread of what Lena was about to say to her about her rant about Liam earlier in the day as she and Lena walked out of the kitchen and sat down on the stairs. "If this is about what i said about Liam earlier this morning," Mariana said. "i understand if you`re mad about it, but-"

"No Mariana." Lena said. "I`m not mad at you for what you said." Mariana was stunned by what Lena just said to her.

"You have every right to be entitled to your opinion. In fact i kinda feel the same way you do. I`m very proud of you for expressing yourself and showing your support to Callie and your brother."

"Thanks mom." Mariana said as Lena hugged her. Just as their hug ended, the doorbell rang. "I`ll get it." Mariana went to open the door and saw that it was Mike and Brandon.

"Hey Mariana." Mike said as he and Brandon entered the house.

"Hey Mike." Mariana replied as she walked over to hug Brandon. "Brandon i`m so glad that you`re back home."

"I`m glad to see you too." Brandon said as he hugged Mariana back.

Almost immediately everyone else came out of the kitchen.

"Hey man." Jesus said as he and Jude went to greet Brandon. "How ya feeling?"

"I`m feeling better." Brandon replied. "Me and Dad had a nice day out at Dave & Buster`s."

"Yeah you and Jude oughta come next time. We need to have a guys` day out."

"We`ll be sure to keep that in mind." Stef said, winking at Lena, who smiled back at her.

As Stef was talking, Brandon turned his attention over to Callie, who was standing over by the kitchen. She decided to stay back and let everyone else be with Brandon. Brandon and Callie smiled and nodded at each other to silently say hello and reassure each other that they were doing fine.

"Hey Brandon." Jude interrupted. "You wanna see the pictures Callie took of us at the park?"

"Oh yeah." Brandon replied while getting his train of thought to Jude at the last moment.

As the kids went to sit down at the kitchen table to look at the pictures, Stef and Lena looked on at them, happy to see them back together.

"Excuse me ladies," Mike said, interrupting Stef and Lena watching over the kids. "but i need to talk you both out here."

Stef and Lena immediately went outside on the porch to talk with Mike.

"What do you want to tell us out here?" Stef asked.

"I wanted to keep this between us." Mike said. "It`s about Liam."

Lena felt uneasy when Liam was mentioned. "What about him?" She asked.

"I found out from one of the cops at the hospital that Liam is still in criticial condition with a skull fracture and now is in a coma."

Stef and Lena both felt their stomach churning when Mike gave them the update on Liam`s condition.

"Liam's parents are not surprisingly very upset about what happened to him. They think that he was deliberatively attacked and are likely to press charges."

Stef and Lena immediately felt even more uneasy at the mention of charges being brought up. "Do they know about Brandon hitting him in self defense?" Stef asked.

"No not yet." Mike replied.

"I see where this is going." Lena said. "The moment they find out that Callie was involved, they`re going to think that she and Brandon went to get payback on Liam for the case not going her way."

Mike and Stef quickly contemplated what Lena just said. "Great observation on your part." Mike said. "All the more reason why we need to prepare ourselves to protect Brandon and Callie."

"I`ll look around for a lawyer to at least get some legal advice. I`m going to go check on the kids. I`ll see you later Mike."

Stef and Mike watched Lena head back into the house and then quickly pondered the possibility of charges being brought against Brandon.

"I think that the Olmsteads are going to bring charges against Brandon." Stef said. "Just a feeling that i have."

"I feel the same way," Mike said. "but i`m willing do whatever it takes to protect Brandon."

"I know Mike." Stef said as she looked on at Brandon with everyone else inside the house. Now she felt a growing resolve to protect Brandon for what might lay ahead. "There`s no way i`m going to let anything happen to our son."

To be continued.


	5. Chapter 5

Protecting Your Own Part 5 - Calm Before The Storm

Summary - As the Foster family tries to go about their business as best as they can; Brandon, Callie, Stef and Mike are on edge waiting on what could happen next.

Disclaimer - I didn`t create any of the characters, with the exceptation of a few, in this story. They are the property of Bradley Bredeweg, Peter Paige and ABC Family. Any infringements is unintentional.

The Foster household started come to life at around 7 AM with Stef being the first one up. She did a couple of yoga exercises that Lena recommended to her while recovering from the shooting and felt some discomfort in her left ribs, which is where she got wounded, while trying to stretch to the side. Stef`s recovery from the shooting had gone remarkably well, but she still wasn`t 100%. After finishing the exercises, Stef went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get in a quick shower. After she put on her robe and then exited the bathroom, Stef went to check on Brandon, who was still sleeping. She quietly went in the room and gave Brandon a quick kiss on his forehead. As Stef looked at Brandon, she felt very distressed that he had just went through a terrible ordeal and now had to deal with a dark cloud of uncertainty hovering over him with Liam in a coma instead of enjoying the rest of his summer. She wanted so much to make it all go away, but knew that wasn`t so easily done.

"Morning there Sunshine." Lena said as she greeted Stef with a kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"I`m just trying to make it." Stef replied as she got her uniform out of the closet.

As Stef begin to change into her uniform, Lena`s intuition began to kick in as she watched her. Lena knew that Stef was trying her best to hide her feelings with a mask of stoicism, but she was obviously visibly distracted and worried about Brandon and Callie.

"I know how worried you are about Brandon." Lena said.

"This is the last thing he and Callie needs." Stef said in a melancholy tone. "It`s bad enough they`re struggling to deal with the altercation and now this."

Lena immediately grabbed Stef`s left hand to hold it as a show of support. Stef replied with a smile. "You know that you`re not alone in this." Lena said.

"I know." Stef said as she finished buttoning up her shirt. "We`re not going to let anything happen to them."

"Speaking of that," Lena said as she and Stef went downstairs. "i`m going to talk with that lawyer you served with you on the force a while ago."

"Andrew Cho?"

"Yeah. I`ve heard that he`s pretty good and wanted to get some legal advice from him regarding the situation."

"He`s about as good as they come."

"I`m just worried about what it could cost should the case go to court." Lena said as she turned on the stove.

"Don`t worry about that." Stef said as she put the dishes on the table. "I`m sure the union could cover some of the cost."

Stef and Lena then went about the business of fixing breakfast, which consisted of hash browns and eggs. As the moms cooked breakfast, Jesus and Jude came downstairs and went to the living room to do some pushups.

"Hey guys." Stef said as she sat on the edge of a chair. "Nice to see you`re starting to exercise more Jude."

Jude grimaced as he struggled to finish his last pushups.

"Give me one more." Jesus said to encourage him. "There you go."

"That was so hard." Jude said, struggling to catch his breath.

"It`ll get easier if you do them regularly." Jesus said as he pulled Jude up from the floor.

"I like doing yoga better."

"I don`t know how you can do those poses where you have to stretch out for a minute. I almost pulled a muscle trying to do a hard pose."

"I`m in agreement with you about yoga Jesus." Stef said as she gave Jesus and Jude a couple of bottles of water. "However it does have it`s fringe benefits."

Lena smiled at Stef, who just winked at her.

"I`m with you mom on the fringe benefits." Jesus said.

"You only went to that one class only because Lexi was in it." Jude said, teasing Jesus, which got a laugh from Stef and Lena.

"Yeah ha ha."

Callie and Mariana entered the kitchen as Stef, Lena and Jude were having a laugh at Jesus` expense.

"What`s so funny?" Mariana asked as she and Callie sat down at the table.

"We were just having a little fun teasing Jesus." Lena said.

"I don`t want to run late for work." Stef said as she gathered her bag.

"Have a good day." Lena said as she kissed Stef.

"I will honey. Bye babies!"

"Bye mom." Jesus and Mariana said simultaneously as Stef left the house.

After Stef left for work, Lena, Jesus, Mariana, Callie and Jude started eating their breakfast and were joined a few minutes later by Brandon. The breakfast went in typical fashion with some small talk.

"Hey." Brandon said as he approached Callie, who was starting to wash dishes. "You need some help?"

"No i got it covered," Callie replied. "but thanks anyway."

"So how are you doing?"

"I`m doing fine. How about you?"

"Same with me. You have any plans today?"

"Yeah. I have this photography workshop in about an hour."

"That sounds cool. If you have some time, you`re welcome to come over the homeless shelter for some volunteer work with me, Jesus, Lexi and Talya later around 3.

Callie immediately felt anxious when Talya`s name was mentioned. Although things between them were better, Callie still felt uneasy around Talya now that she and Brandon had been making a fresh start, especially in light of her and Brandon`s kiss before the wedding. "No thanks." Callie said as she dried her hands off with a towel. "Maybe some other time."

"Hey man." Brandon said as Jesus came back in the kitchen. "You haven`t forgotten about the thing at the homeless shelter?"

"No i haven`t." Jesus said while rolling his eyes. "Do i have to do this?"

"Yes you do." Lena said. "It is a good way for you to give back to the community."

"Not to mention that it`ll look good to any prospective colleges." Mariana said.

"Don`t suppose it won`t hurt to give it a try." Jesus said.

After the conversation, everyone headed their separate ways. Brandon and Jesus went to watch TV in the living room, while Callie and Jude headed upstairs to get their stuff and Mariana checked her email on her laptop.

"Hey you guys ready?" Lena yelled.

"We`re coming." Jude said as he and Callie went downstairs.

"Why are you giving me that look?" Lena said, noticing a frown on Jude`s face.

"Why do i have to go see this tutor now? Can i do it when school get started?"

"You`re going to the tutor so that you can be better prepared for school. Besides it`s time for you step it up and get those grades up."

"Did they have to go to a tutor too?"

"Yes we did." Jesus said. "I remember me and Mariana had to cancel a trip to the waterpark because we had to do a lot of studying on World War II."

"Oh that was the worse." Mariana said. "That guy Mr. Black was so hard and wanted us to be so detailed with our work. Like how was i suppose to know the difference between a Panther tank and a Tiger tank."

Mariana`s comment got a laugh from everyone.

"Jude will be in safe hands." Lena said as she got her keys. "Lets get a move on you two."

As Callie and Jude headed out the door, Brandon stood up and opened it for them. "I guess i`ll see you later." Brandon said.

"Yeah." Callie said.

She and Brandon shared a nervous laugh and smile with each other before Callie went to get in the car with Jude and Lena. Brandon watched them drive out off down the road and then headed back in the house. He couldn`t help but focus all his thoughts on Callie. Although they had vowed not to push things after the kiss, Brandon still had those certain feelings stiring inside him regarding Callie.

Stef parked at her usual spot in the parking lot at the North Division headquarters of the San Diego Police Department. Stef said hello to some familiar faces as she walked in the building. However she also noticed a lot of stares at her. Stef knew that everyone knew about what happened with Brandon. Word tended to spread around the police department whenever some cop`s kid got in trouble and now Stef felt the scrutiny of having all eyes on her during the reading of daily assignments, which made her feel very uneasy.

"Hey." Mike said as he approached Stef in the hallway after the briefing. "Don`t let them bother you."

"I`m trying not to," Stef said. "but it`s impossible to notice everyone staring at you."

"Hey what`s up Mike and Stef." Officer Rasheed Thompson said as he came over with Officer Jerry Stein. They were two of Stef and Mike`s closest friends on the force and nicknamed the Odd Couple due to their differences in age and styles, with Rasheed being young, energetic and brash; while Jerry was older and reserved.

"Hey guys." Stef said.

"We heard about what happened with Brandon." Jerry said. "How is he doing?"

"He was a bit shaken up, but other than that, he`s doing fine." Mike replied.

"You know that everyone`s behind you guys."

"We know." Stef sighed.

"You should`ve told us about this guy earlier." Rasheed said in a quieter tone.

"Yeah we heard that he got off on those charges." Jerry said. "We would`ve made sure he wouldn`t go anywhere near Brandon and Callie."

Stef immediately felt her stomach churning after hearing Jerry`s comment. "I appreciate you guys wanting to help out," Stef said. "but this isn`t how we want to go about and i don`t you two losing your badges over."

"I understand how you feel Stef, but we always you and Mike`s backs anytime and that goes for your kids too."

"Yeah man we would`ve took care of business for you with this Liam dude." Rasheed said. "You know what i mean."

"Yeah we do." Mike said with a grim look on his face. He knew all too well that some officers were willing to bend the rules for personal reasons.

"I see the captain wants to talk you guys." Jerry said while noticing Captain Roberts looking at Stef and Mike. "We better get out of anyway."

"Yeah see ya guys." Stef said as the other officers headed out on their patrol.

Stef and Mike immediately walked into Captain Roberts` office. Captain Roberts closed the door behind her and then sat down at her desk.

"I`m very aware of what happened with Brandon and Callie on Saturday night." Captain Roberts said. "How are they doing?"

"They`re doing fine." Stef replied.

"That`s good to hear."

"Any news on Liam Olmstead?" Mike asked.

"I`ve heard that he`s still in a coma and will undergo surgery in his brain in the next day or two as soon as swelling goes down." Captain Roberts replied.

Stef and Mike were stoic outwardly, but both felt very nervous that Liam`s life was still on the line.

"I`m sure you know that the Olmsteads want to press charges against Brandon and i want to tell you both to stay away from the investigation. I don`t want to hear any buts either of you. This came down from the brass and besides you both are still on thin ice after that shooting."

"How could we ever forget that." Mike said.

"I know that you both want to do something to help Brandon and it`s understandable, but i don`t want you two to jeopadize your careers.

"We understand what you`re saying Captain." Stef said. "We`re in the process of getting some legal help just in case."

"I can`t speak for Stef Captain," Mike said. "but i`m willing to follow your orders about the case. However if the situation were to come to a head, i have to do what i have to as a father to protect Brandon."

Stef and Captain Roberts quietly contemplated Mike`s statement."I understand where you`re coming from Mike." Captain Roberts said. "That will be all for now."

Stef and Mike immediately exited Captain Roberts` office and headed outside to their squad car.

"That was really great what you said in there." Stef said as she got in the car.

"I meant every word." Mike said as he started the car. "I`m going to do whatever it takes to protect Brandon. No matter the cost."

Stef sat silently during the drive and took a brief look at Mike. She admired him for his tenacity in defending Brandon. Despite everything that had happened between them, Stef knew that she could always rely on Mike to help her out with Brandon and was even more grateful for it during the present situation.

It was a partly cloudy and warm afternoon around San Diego. Brandon, Talya, Jesus and Lexi had finished their volunteer work at the homeless shelter and headed over to the park for a walk. After a few minutes of conversating about what happened at the homeless, they saw an ice cream truck a few feet away and went to get themselves some ice cream.

"This new chocolate chip ice cream they just got is pretty good." Jesus said in between licks.

"Yeah it isn`t bad." Lexi said. "I wish that they had a favor like Mocha or Cappuccino."

"You`re such an ice cream snob."

Brandon, Talya and Lexi laughed at Jesus` comment. The foursome walked around for a few minutes. As Jesus and Lexi were talking about some volleyball camp, Brandon noticed that Talya was detacted and paid no attention to the conversation. He knew that when Talya was like this, she had something on her mind.

"Hey are you alright? Brandon asked.

"Oh yeah." Talya replied. "Look can i talk to you alone for a moment?"

"Sure. Hey guys we`ll catch up with you in a moment."

Jesus and Lexi immediately picked up on the vibe with Brandon and Talya. "Yeah we`ll be over here." Jesus said as he and Lexi went to leave Brandon and Talya sitting by themselves on a bench.

"What`s on your mind?" Brandon asked.

"I didn`t want to get into this around Jesus and Lexi, but it`s about what happened with you, Callie and Liam."

Brandon immediately grimaced when Liam was mentioned. "What is there to say. What happened happened."

Talya saw how umcomfortable Brandon was at that moment. "I`m sorry that i brought it up."

"No it`s alright."

"It`s just that when i first heard what happened, i was so worried that something happened to you or Callie."

"You had every right to be worried, but we came out of it alright."

"I`m glad that you did."

"Right now i`m stuck in this waiting game not knowing what could happen with Liam or something else happening."

"You`ll come through this."

Brandon and Talya then sat silently for a moment before Talya broke the silence. "Listen Brandon." Talya said. "I know that this isn`t the best question to ask-"

"You want to know if i somehow went after Liam for what he did to Callie and then getting away with it." Brandon replied, interrupting Talya.

"I`m sorry to ask you that. It`s just that i heard my dad talking to one of our neighbors about it."

"I would never do that something like that, but i can tell you that i would`ve did what the same thing i did on Saturday regardless if it was Callie, you, my moms, Mariana or Lexi."

Talya felt comforted by what Brandon had just said and placed her hand on top of his as a show of support.

"Hey you are two going to be long?" Jesus yelled.

"I guess we better get going." Brandon said as he and Talya got up and headed over to meet up with Jesus and Lexi. "You know how impatient he can be."

As he walked back with Talya, Brandon was in pensive mood after he had lied in a way about his emotions on that. He didn`t want to worry Talya about it and choose to keep it to himself.

A few weeks had passed since the incident. The Fosters went on with their usual business of getting ready for school to start back. Lena was busy with administrative work at Anchor Beach on some days, while Stef worked on the budget for the kids` new clothes and supplies for school. Callie and Jude were grateful that they were getting some new clothes and had some fun shopping for it with Mariana. As for Liam, the surgery on his skull fracture was successful and he emerged from his coma a few days later. However he faced a tough recovery, suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury and needing rehab.

A couple of days before school begin, the Fosters, along with the Riveras and Talya and her parents, went to a musical program showcasing San Diego`s best young musical talents including Brandon, who was playing a classical solo piece. As Brandon played his classical piece, Stef, Lena and Mike looked on proudly with Stef shedding some tears. Callie couldn`t help but marvel at how beautifully Brandon`s playing was during his solo piece. She always has been impressed by his playing, but had a greater appreciation of it having hearing it during a show. After Brandon finished the last note, he got a robust ovation from the audience, most notably from his family and friends, who gave him a standing ovation. Later in the show, Brandon returned to the stage as part of a special School of Rock type musical tribute to J.J. Cale along with some other musical prodigies from around the city. The makeshift band played Call Me The Breeze, which immediately got the audience in a very lively mood with some of them, most notably Stef, Lena and Jesus on their feet. When Brandon did the piano solo in the last part of the song, Stef and Lena clapped and yelled enthusiastically. Brandon took a quick glance at them and couldn`t hide the smile on his face. After the song ended, the audience gave the band a big standing ovation. Brandon looked over at where his family and friends were and gave them a thumbs up.

"Freebird!" Jesus yelled out.

"Jesus." Mariana said as she playfully punched him on the face, while everyone else laughed at Jesus.

The next day, the Fosters went to a back to school over at the beach near Anchor Bay Charter School. Stef and Lena mostly mingled with the other parents, while the kids were off hanging out with their friends and dancing. Later toward the end of the party, Stef and Lena dragged the kids away for some dancing. The moms wanted to get as much fun as possible embarrassing their kids, who happily played along. Later in the evening, the Fosters trudged back home with tired feet and some full stomachs.

"I can hardly move my toes." Stef complained as she down on one of the lounge chairs in the living.

"I know." Lena said as she walked in from the kitchen with a couple of bottles of water. "It`s getting harder trying to keep up with these kids."

"Yeah, but we still have our moments."

Lena smiled at Stef`s comment and gave her a quick kiss before heading back into the kitchen.

"Hey guys." Stef to Jesus and Jude, who were playing a video game. "Don`t forget that we`re back to school bedtime."

"We know mom." Jesus said.

"Good because i don`t want you staying up all night or else i have to throw some water on you to wake you up in the morning."

Jude immediately laughed at Stef`s comment. As everyone were doing their different activities before bedtime, the doorbell rang.

"Whoever this is better have a good reason for coming over this late." Stef said as she walked over to the door. She opened it and saw a couple of fellow police officers. "Hey guy. What can i help you with?"

"Hey there Stef." Officer Clarke said. "I`m Officer Clarke and this is Officer Allen. We`re from the Southern Division."

"Is your son Brandon here?" Officer Allen asked.

"Yes he is." Stef replied. "Hold on for a moment. Lena could you get Brandon."

As Lena went upstairs to get Brandon, Stef started to feel nervous. "Is this about that altercation he had not that long ago?"

The officers gave Stef sad looks, which immediately made her even more anxious. "Please tell me you`re not here to arrest him?"

"I`m afraid so." Officer Clarke said.

"This can`t be happening."

"I`m sorry Stef. Here`s the warrant."

Brandon came outside and went over to Stef and the officers. "Hey mom what`s going on?" Brandon asked while looking around suspiciously.

"Brandon Foster." Officer Allen said as he walked over to Brandon. "You`re under arrest for Aggravted assault."

"No!" Brandon yelled out, throwing his arms in the air in disgust. "Mom."

Stef could only sadly look at Brandon. She had never felt so helpless as a mother as in that moment. "I`m sorry B." Stef said.

Officer Allen read out Brandon`s Miranda right and briefly put his hands behind his back to cuff him, which caused Stef to immediately come between them. "Could you please not cuff him here?" Stef plead. "I don`t want his siblings to see him handcuffed."

"Yes we can do that out of respect for you and your family." Officer Clarke said.

As Brandon was walking to the police car with the officers, the rest of the family came outside and in an instant, Jesus and Mariana ran over to Brandon.

"Hey let him go!" Jesus yelled as he and Mariana got near Brandon.

"I`m sorry, but you could two please back off?" Officer Clarke plead with the twins.

"He didn`t do anything wrong." Mariana angrily said. "He was defending himself."

"I`m sure this can be straightened out in court."

"This is so wrong." Jesus said while trying to move pass the taller Officer Allen. "You can`t do this."

"Jesus come on." Lena said as she and Callie tried to pull Jesus away. "Don`t make things any worse."

Jesus calmed down and back down. Brandon watched the whole conflict nearby. "Can i talk to them for a moment?" Brandon asked. "Please i really need to."

"Alright kid." Officer Clarke said. "Don`t do anything suspicious."

Brandon walked over toward his family. He immediately saw Jesus was still stewing, while Mariana was starting to cry and Jude looked on sadly. Brandon`s heart was aching having to see this. "Hey guys." Brandon said. "I`m going to be alright."

"Brandon this isn't right." Mariana said with tears streaming down her cheeks. "You shouldn`t have to go through with this."

"I know that, but you guys gotta go on and keep it together. I`ll be fine. Just take care of each other."

Brandon kissed Mariana on her forehand and got a quick hug from Jesus before he started to walk back to the squad car.

"Hey Callie." Brandon said. "Can i talk to you alone?"

Callie immediately went over to the squad car while Brandon went in the backseat.

"Can you make sure that Jesus and Mariana-" Brandon asked.

"Brandon don`t worry about it." Callie said interrupting Brandon. "I got this. Just take care of yourself."

Brandon silently nodded to Callie to indicate that he trusted her to be there for his siblings. He took one last look back at everyone as the squad car went down the street. Everyone else were left standing in the yard for a moment before heading back inside, feeling a mixture of anger and sadness after having to watch Brandon being arrested. Stef called Mike to let him know what had just happened before she got her car keys.

"I`m going to go see what Mike and i can do." Stef said as she stood by the door. "Please make sure everyone are going to get through this."

"You don`t need to ask." Lena replied. "Just do what you can to get Brandon back home as soon as possible."

Stef gave Lena a kiss goodbye before heading over to where Brandon was being held. Jesus, Jude and Callie headed upstairs to bed after a few minutes of lingering around in the living room. The threesome immediately heard Mariana sobbing from the stairs and went to her and Callie`s room to see her curled up on her bed, holding her teddy bear. Callie immediately rushed over to sit on Mariana`s bed and held her to offer comfort. Jesus and Jude followed behind and sat down on Callie`s bed. The foursome stayed up for about 10 minutes before each of them slowly fell asleep with Callie sleeping with Mariana, while Jude slept in Callie`s bed and Jesus went back to his and Jude`s room. Callie was the last one to fall asleep. She felt overwhelmed having to watch Brandon being arrested and then seeing how it was affecting everyone, especially Mariana. She shed a single tear for Brandon before quickly wiping it off. As sad as she felt, Callie knew that she was going to need a lot of strength to help everyone get through this crisis.

To be continued...

A/N: I apologize for my lateness in completing this part. I had a slight case of writer`s block along with doing some research for this part and the next ones. 


	6. Chapter 6

Protecting Your Own Part 6 - Fighting Back

Summary - After Brandon`s arrest, the Fosters band together to fight for him. Also Lena makes a surprising revelation to Stef.

Disclaimer - I didn`t create most of the characters, with the exception of a few, in this story. They are the property of Bradley Bredeweg, Peter Paige and ABC Family. All infringements are unintentional.

The alarm clock on the dresser in Callie and Mariana`s room buzzed at 5:40 am. Callie, who had woke up earlier, immediately walked over to turn the alarm off. Then she took a quick look at Mariana, who was still asleep and balled up on her bed. Callie felt so bad for Mariana that she had to see Brandon being arrested last night. Seeing Mariana crying afterwards was ingrained in Callie`s mind and still bothered her. However Callie had little time to worry about and decided to get ready for the first day of school. She went to the bathroom for the usual morning activities of brushing her teeth, getting in a shower and then drying herself off, which took 15 minutes. After she finished drying herself off, Callie then put on a new black underset, an old t-shirt and pajamas before leaving the bathroom. Before going to her and Mariana`s room, Callie took a quick glance in Brandon`s room and saw Jesus sitting at his desk. She immediately went over to Brandon`s room. "Hey." Callie said.

"Oh hey Callie." Jesus replied. "I just wanted to come in here. This seems like a bad dream and i`m waiting for Brandon to come out at any moment to tell me to get away from his desk or not to hog the bathroom, but it`s so hard that he`s not here."

Callie felt terrible for Jesus, who was trying his best to hide how hurt he was emotionally about Brandon`s arrest, but she could tell that he was upset about it. Callie knew after living with the Fosters for a while how strong a bond the twins have with Brandon and it was tough for her seeing them hurting without their older brother. "This really sucks." Jesus said in disgust.

"I know that it sucks about what happened last night and i feel the same way too," Callie said. "but you can`t let this get you down. Your moms and Mike are doing what they can to help Brandon and before you know it, he`ll be back here complaining about not having any hot water."

Jesus laughed a little at Callie`s last comment. "I guess i better get my shower while there`s still some hot water." Jesus said as he stood up. "Thanks for listening."

"No problem." Callie replied as she gave Jesus a quick reassuring pat on the back before he headed off to the bathroom.

Callie then headed back to her and Mariana`s room to get dressed. As she changed into one of her new outfits, Callie noticed Mariana sitting up for the first time in a few hours. After Callie finished putting on her jeans, she went to sit down next to Mariana, whose eyes were dry, but red after all the crying she did. She didn`t know what to say to Mariana and could only put her hand on top of Mariana`s.

"I don`t know if i can go to school while Brandon`s stuck in jail." Mariana said.

"I know how you`re feeling right now." Callie said. "Believe me i`ve had many days where all i wanted to do was to stay in bed, but something inside me said to get up and go out to face the day as best as you can."

Callie`s words immediately began to sink in with Mariana. As bad as her problem was, she knew that Callie had faced a lot worse and immediately begin to feel a bit rejuvenated.

"Feel better?" Callie asked.

"I`m starting to." Mariana replied.

As Callie gave Mariana a hug, she saw Jude standing in the door holding a glass of water. "Hey buddy."

"I just wanted to bring Mariana some water if she wanted it." Jude said as he came in the room.

Mariana immediately felt very grateful by Jude`s action. "Thanks so much." Mariana said as she accepted the glass of water from Jude.

Jesus finished up in the bathroom about a minute later, which got Mariana`s attention. "Are you going to go get your shower now? Mariana asked.

"No thanks." Jude replied. "You can go before me."

Mariana smiled in gratitude at Jude and gave him a kiss on the forehand before going to the bathroom. Callie felt very proud of Jude for being so generous. "That was so good what you did for Mariana."

"I thought that she need it a lot more." Jude said. "Do you think that they`re going to do anything to Brandon and send him to juvie?"

Callie quietly contemplated Jude`s question. She thought back to her experiences in juvie and knew that someone like Brandon would had a very hard time there. "I don`t know," Callie replied. "but i know that Brandon has people that will fight for him. Anyway why you don`t go get ready."

Jude immediately went back to his and Jesus` room to pick which of his new outfits he was going to wear. After putting on her shoes, Callie went downstairs to the kitchen and fixed herself a bowl of cereal. Everyone else slowly made their ways downstairs for breakfast, which was more quiet than usual. Jesus and Jude tried to make some small talk about school, but didn`t get much of a response from Mariana. Lena joined the kids in the kitchen after finishing up some paper work and noticed not only the subdued atmosphere with the kids, but also the empty void without Brandon that was very ubiquitous in the kitchen as evident by the empty chair where he usually sat. She knew how hard it was with Brandon not around, but decided that it was best for everyone to go about their business. After everyone finished their breakfasts, Lena gave them their lunches. "We better get a move on." She said as everyone finished packing their bags.

The drive to Anchor Beach Charter School was quiet with Jesus listening to his iPod, while Jude was reading a book and Callie and Mariana were both looking at the window, obviously thinking about Brandon. As she parked in her reserved space, Lena decided that it was time for her to talk to everyone.

"Listen guys." Lena said as she turned off her SUV. "I know that you`re all having a hard time after what happened last night. You might have some people staring at you and talking about Brandon, but i don`t want any of that to affect you. I want you all to walk talk and face it."

The kids all silently nodded at what Lena had just said.

"Now i don`t want to hear about any of you getting into a fight or doing some crazy protest." Lena said emphatically, with her comment obviously directed at Jesus and Mariana.

"We got it mom." Mariana said.

"Yeah we won`t do anything stupid." Jesus said.

"I want to see you put that into action." Lena said as she opened her door. "I`ll see you guys later."

Everyone got out of the SUV and headed off in different directions, with Lena going to her office, Jude going over to the other side with the younger students and Jesus, Mariana and Callie staying together. As the trio walked through the schoolyard, they begin to notice some stares at them. Jesus and Callie kept their heads down and didn`t notice the stares, while Mariana noticed them and felt very uneasy.

"Hey don`t pay any attention to them." Callie said in Mariana`s right ear.

After a minute, the trio saw a friendly face as Lexi approached them. "Hey guys." She said as she went to give Jesus a hug. "I`m so sorry about what happened to Brandon. How are you guys holding up?"

"We`re doing fine." Jesus replied.

"I see that it didn`t take long for word to spread around about Brandon." Mariana said with a frown on her face to express with her displeasure.

"Don`t worry about it. I`m sure everyone will forget about it soon as there`s a fight or something."

"Hey guy i have to get going." Callie said. "I`ll see you later."

"See ya at lunch." Mariana said.

Callie tried hard to get through the gauntlet in the schoolyard, but she couldn`t handle everyone scrutinizing her and had to get out of there. As she walked into one of the building, Callie begin to feel that it was going to be one of those days for her.

Brandon was awakened by the sounds of a jailmate, who didn`t look much older than him, yelling for a guard along with the snoring of some jailmates. It had been one of the longest nights in Brandon`s life. He didn`t get much sleep, having to deal with a bunch of loud, drunk and rowdy college students, who had been partying too hard at some back to school parties. He stretched his arms and then rubbed the back of his neck to help alleviate the discomfort of having to sleep upright with his head against the hard stone wall.

"Hey i need to know when i`m going to get my phone call?" The young jailmate yelled. "HELLO!"

The young jailmate`s constant yelling irritated the other men in the holding cell and the guards. One jailmate was especially annoyed was a burely biker, who had enough of the yelling and decided to take action by walking over to the younger jailmate and gave him a hard right to the ribs that literally knocked the wind of the younger jailmate. "Why don`t you shut the fuck up you little pissant?" The biker growled. "You say another word and i`ll break your goddamn neck."

The young jailmate could only nod his head due to him being unable to speak with the air knocked out of him and he immediately went to cower in a corner. Brandon was grateful for the biker`s action, which made things easier for him and everyone else.

"Foster, Brown, Jenkins!" A guard yelled. "Lets go. It`s time for your arraignment."

Brandon left the cell with a couple of the other jailmates and lined up to be handcuffed and chained to each other before heading to the court room. As Brandon was having his legs unchained, he saw his parents with a middle aged man in a suit. Brandon could only give Stef and Mike a brief glimpse before being told to go move in another area on the left side of the court. As Brandon stood in the waiting area, he was met by the man in the suit, who turned out to be Andrew Cho. "Hello Brandon." Andrew whispered to Brandon. "I`m Andrew Cho and i`m going to be defending you. The only thing you have to do say you`re not guity, look poise and stand up straight."

Brandon only nodded his head to reply. He waited for about 15 minutes before his turn to go up in front of the judge came. Brandon walked up to a bench up front in the court. The charge was read and he plead not guilty when asked by the judge. As Andrew and the prosecutor made their arguments over the charge, Brandon took a quick glance at his parents, who were sitted behind him. Stef tried to put on a brave front, but Brandon knew how much this was bothering her, while Mike was more stoic and silently encouraged Brandon. After the argument concluded, bail was brought up.

"Brandon Foster is no flight risk." Andrew said. "He is an outstanding member of the community, whose parents are both members of the San Diego Police Department and his stepmother is the vice principal at Anchor Beach Charter School."

"Any objections?" The judge asked.

"We don`t see Brandon Foster being a flight risk," The prosecutor replied. "but at the same time, we don`t want to take some precautions just in case."

"I understand your perspective Counselor. I think that we can come to some sort of middle ground. $10,000 bail. Next case."

Brandon and Andrew immediately left the bench and headed over to meet Stef and Mike, who both hugged Brandon.

"Are you okay?" Stef asked as she hugged Brandon.

"I`m fine mom." Brandon replied.

"Did anyone try anything on you?" Mike asked.

"No. They were mostly wasted."

A guard approached then approached from behind. "Excuse me." He said. "We need to get you back so that you get your stuff."

"I`ll go with you B." Mike said as he and Brandon went to follow the guard.

After Mike and Brandon left, Stef and Andrew chatted briefly outside the court before shaking hands and parting ways. As Stef went to go meet Mike and Brandon outside the holding faculty, she spotted A.D.A. Colbert, who had worked on Callie`s case against Liam. "Hi Stef, Andy." He said. "I`ve heard about what happened. I hope that i`m not the cause of any of this."

"No you`re not." Stef said. "You did the best that you could on that case."

"I would like to arrange some sort of meeting with the A.D.A on Brandon`s case."

"We`ll have to talk to our lawyer first, but thanks for doing this."

"Stef i hope that you won`t mind if i asked you this, but did Brandon go after Liam out of revenge for Callie because of how the case ended?"

Stef immediately felt very uncomfortable about A.D.A. Colbert`s question. "You know that i can`t answer that." She said, guarding against any sort of tactic that could come back to hurt Brandon`s case. "Excuse i have to go."

After leaving the court, Stef met up with Mike and a newly freed Brandon. She and Mike both felt very relieved that Brandon was freed, but now they knew that they had to gear up to fight for him.

Lunchtime at Anchor Beach Charter School was filled with the usual activity of students eating and mingling at the tables outside, usually in different cliques. Mariana sat down with Kelsey and some of their friends at a table under a tree. The girls mostly talked about fashion, guys and the latest gossip, with the notable exception of Brandon`s situation out of respect for Mariana, who was mostly silent and had her thoughts elsewhere.

"Hey girl." Kelsey said, snapping Mariana to attention. "Were you listening?"

"No not really." Mariana replied.

"Listen i`ve been holding back from doing this, but we like to know about-"

"The answer is no." Mariana snapped as she saw Callie walking around. She immediately signaled over to Callie to come over.

"Hey Mariana." Callie said as she sat down.

"Hi Callie." Kelsey said.

"Oh hey Kelsey." Callie replied in a bitter tone, which indicated that she still hadn`t forgotten about Kelsey accusing her of selling Jesus` pills and didn`t forgive her.

"So Callie we were about to talk about Brandon if it was alright with Mariana."

"Let me guess. You`ve been spreading gossip about Brandon and how he killed someone or some other nonsense."

"I didn`t start it. I picked it up second handed. You know how these things are where you hear it from a friend, who heard it from-"

"We get it Kelsey." Mariana said, interrupting Kelsey.

"I saw online that they`re talking about Brandon at least three other schools around town. I didn`t think that he would be trending like this."

Mariana and Callie were both visually annoyed by Kelsey`s last comment, more so with Callie, who was boiling. "Excuse me, but does this sound like a joke?" She said in disgust.

"I didn`t say it was funny or anything. Kelsey replied. "It`s just that we never get something like-"

"Oh so you think that this is cool and something you can gossip about before you forget about it and move on to your usual shallow talk about clothes and judging people. The sad thing about it is that you don`t even care that people have been hurt and affected by this."

Kelsey was about to respond to immediately saw Callie and Mariana glaring at her. She felt the glares like lasers and in a rare move, thought better than to say anything else of fear of being slapped by either Callie and Mariana. "I`m sorry." She said meekly. "I`m just talking out of my ass. Look it sucks what happened to Brandon. He`s good guy and doesn`t deserve it."

The rest of the lunch went by quietly with everyone saying little.

Lena returned to her office after lunch in the facilty lounge. She had received a lot of support from the other members of the faculty throughout the day. Lena escaped from worrying about Brandon by channeling her energy into work, which included dealing with some pranks against new students and a couple of fights. After dealing with a couple of disruptive students, Lena felt her cell phone vibrating in her right pants pocket. She got it from her pocket and saw on the I.D. that the call was from Stef.

"Hey." Lena said. "How did things with Brandon go?"

"It went well." Stef replied. "He was able to make bail."

"That`s great. How is he doing?"

"He`s pretty tired, but otherwise is fine."

"Everyone are going to be so glad to see him."

"I can`t wait to see it. By the way, we`re going to have meet with the A.D.A. on Brandon`s case tomorrow."

"Okay. I`ll clear my schedule for it. Look i`ve got to go. Please give my love to Brandon."

"I will."

Lena breathed a sigh of relief that Brandon was out of jail and turned her thoughts to seeing him back home along with the impending meeting with the A.D.A tomorrow.

After the first day of school ended, Lena decided to drive the kids back home so that they could see Brandon. Everyone got back in the house as soon as possible to see Brandon, who was upstairs playing his piano.

"Brandon!" Mariana said as she rushed in his room to give him a hug. "I`m so glad that you`re back home."

"I`m glad to you guys again." Brandon replied as Jesus, Callie and Jude entered his room.

Stef and Lena happily watched the reunion from the hallway. They were happy to have Brandon back home with everyone.

"Can we talk about the meeting tomorrow?" Lena asked.

"Yeah." Stef replied as she and Lena went downstairs. "It looks like the A.D.A. likely want to do a plea deal."

"I don`t see the point in any plea when Brandon didn`t do anything wrong and only defended himself and Callie."

"Andrew thinks that we should at least listen to what they have to say."

Lena felt very skeptical about the meeting, especially in light of how Callie`s case went. "What is it going to be?" She asked.

"It`s going to be at 10 tomorrow morning."

"I`m going to go ahead and tell Marina that i`ll be out for it."

As Lena went to make her phone call, Stef went back upstairs to check on Brandon and saw him talking with Jesus, Mariana, Callie and Jude about the first day of school. She felt sad for Brandon that he had to miss the first day of school and instead had to deal with the terrible uncertainity with his case. However Stef felt a determination to help bring some normality in her son`s life as soon as possible.

The next morning at the Foster household was somewhat back to normal with the usual hustle from everyone to use the bathroom as quickly as possible. The only thing different was that Brandon wasn`t going to go school with Jesus, Mariana, Callie and Jude and instead had to get ready for the meeting with the A.D.A. As Brandon was picking out what to wear for the meeting, he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." He said.

Brandon turned around and saw Callie standing in the doorway. "Oh hey." He said.

"Hey." Callie replied. "I see you`ve been trying to choose what to wear for about half an hour."

"Mr. Cho wants me to wear something that will make a good first impression on the A.D.A. Which outfit should i wear?"

"The one with the navy jacket." Callie said while pointing at one of the outfits Brandon laid on his bed.

"I think that it looks a little too much like a prep school uniform." Brandon said.

"Yes it does, but it`ll make more of a good impression on the A.D.A."

Brandon and Callie shared a laugh and then headed downstairs where Jesus, Mariana and Jude were packing their bags for school. Brandon looked on somewhat glumily at the activity. He felt left out, having to get ready to meet with the A.D.A instead of going to school with everyone.

"You guys ready?" Lena asked as she got her keys.

"Yeah mom." Jesus replied. "Hey man good luck on the meeting."

"Good luck Brandon." Jude said.

"Thanks guys." Brandon said. He felt very flattered by everyone`s support.

"I`ll be sure to get your assignments for you." Callie said as she walked out of the door with everyone.

"Thanks Callie."

Brandon and Callie shared a brief smile with each other before Callie went to get in the SUV and headed off to school. Brandon could only look on sadly from the porch as everyone else drove away, while he was stuck at home. He wanted so much to get some normality in his life and it was starting to frustrate him. As Brandon went back in the house, he knew that there was no time to worry about not being back at home with the meeting with the A.D.A. looming. He immediately begin to focus on his energy on it.

Stef drove downtown to the Hall of Justice along with Lena and Brandon. The drive was quiet, with the threesome stuck in their own thoughts ahead of the meeting with the A.D.A. After a few minutes, Stef parked the Denali in the parking lot and then she, Lena and Brandon walked up to the front of the building where they were met by Mike.

"Hey buddy." Mike said as he shook hands with Brandon. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel alright." Brandon replied.

"That`s good. You`ve been a real trooper through this whole thing and we`re all proud of you for it."

Brandon silently nodded his head in response, while Stef and Lena smiled at him to display how proud they were of him. About a minute later, Andrew made his way to meet the Fosters. After some quick hellos, the quintet went inside the building and headed over to a corner for a private conference.

"I wanted to go through this before we head upstairs." Andrew said. "The A.D.A likely wants to plead down to a Misdemeanor and have Brandon serve a year or less in juvenile."

Stef, Lena and Mike grimaced simultaneously at the mention of juvie. "Absolutely not." Stef said while shaking her head.

"There`s no way we want that." Mike said. "I`ve arrested a lot of kids that went on to juvie and some of them are pretty bad. Brandon would be a prime target if he were locked up."

"I agree." Lena said. "I saw first hand what juvie can do to a kid when i first got Callie and i don`t want to see the same thing happening to Brandon."

Andrew quickly took stock of the parents` opinion. "You`ve made your opinions known. I`m glad that you`re unanimous about this."

The meeting quickly broke up and the quintet got in an elevator to head upstairs. After the elevator stopped on the third floor, everyone got out of it and headed to over to the office of A.D.A. Charles Pierce where they were greeted by his secretary, who showed them in to his office, which had five leather chairs in front of the A.D.A.`s Jamocha Wood desk.

"Would any of you like anything to drink?" The Secretary asked.

"No none for me." Stef replied. "Brandon would like anything to drink?"

"No mom." Brandon said.

"Well i hear A.D.A. Pierce coming." The secretary said before she stepped outside to meet the A.D.A.

Everyone felt an edge of anxiety before A.D.A Pierce stepped in his office. "Good morning to you all." He said to greet everyone. "I`m glad that you could make it here. I`m sure your attorney has made you aware about the nature of this meeting."

"Yes he has." Mike said.

A.D.A. Pierce sat down at his desk and then got a couple of files handed to him by his secretary, which he looked over quickly. "I want to get straight to the point here." The A.D.A said as he adjusted his glasses. "I was made aware of the full scope of this case, especially with the background information that was given to me by A.D.A. Colbert."

A.D.A. Pierce paused to close the file and then looked at Brandon. "This is a very bad situation here and i would like to present a way for us to solve it. Brandon from what i`ve heard, you`re an outstanding young man and i`m very sorry that you`ve been having a very hard time of it lately. You found yourself in a very tough spot and understand you wanting to defend yourself and your foster sister Callie Jacob, but i think that you exceeded yourself with the method that you did it."

"Excuse me," Andrew said. "but my client lawfully defended himself and Ms. Jacob after trying to walk away from the confrontation that was started by Mr. Olmstead, who i might add, has a very terrible history with Ms. Jacob, which includes him stalking and menacing her on three occasions recently. I don`t see the point of these charges being brought against Brandon Foster."

"I respect your zealous defense of your client, but he crossed the line when he bashed Mr. Olmstead`s head with a blunt object a second time when he was concessed. Not to mention he was prepared to hit him a third time."

"The only one that crossed the line was Mr. Olmstead." Andrew said, slowly raising his voice.

"I think we`re not getting anywhere arguing back and forth about this." A.D.A. Pierce said with an irritable tone in his voice. "I want to put this offer to you and young Mr. Foster`s parents on the table. I`m not the bad guy here. We can settle this manner right now by having Brandon pled to Aggravated Battery. He`ll serve a year in a juvenile detention center with time shaved off in half for good behavior."

Stef, Mike and Lena briefly looked at each other after the A.D.A made his proposal.

"I don`t think that we can accept this deal Counselor." Mike said. "Not when Brandon did nothing wrong."

"As stated earlier, Brandon was only defending himself and his foster sister." Stef said. "Plus he was roughed by Mr. Olmstead, who i might add is much stronger than him. Besides there`s no way we would allow our son to be locked up with a lot more hardened delinquents."

"I expected that you both would bring some of your expertise as police officers." A.D.A Pierce said. "I respect your opinions officers, but i firmly believe that Brandon overstepped his bounds."

As the debate was in progress, Lena began to fidget in her chair, shaking her head. "Excuse me," She said, interrupting the A.D.A. "but i think that you`re absolutely wrong on your statement."

"Am i Miss, i mean Mrs. Fosters?"

"You`ve been missing the point that Brandon only acted in self defense and a fight was the last thing that he was looking for on that night."

"Mrs. Fosters it would be one thing if the fight ended up with some stiches, but Brandon seriously injured Mr. Olmstead, who almost died and now is struggling with the effects of TBI that was delivered by your stepson."

"Counselor you seem to forget about what type of man, which i`m very reluctant to call Mr. Olmstead, is. He raped our foster daughter a few years ago and has come back to harass and forcefully menaced her on three different occasions. So don`t try to make him into some sort of model citizen."

Everyone was surprised by Lena`s forceful statement.

"This predator beat up our son and who knows what he was about to do to our foster daughter if Brandon didn`t get back up to defend her. I absolutely think that it`s an absolute disgrace that you would want to lock Brandon up, but yet when Callie presses charges against Liam, you hardly bother to listen to her and just write her off because of her record."

"I think i see where you`re going-"

"Excuse me, but i`m not finished." Lena interrupted with a forceful tone in her voice. "You wanna talk about serious injuries, what about Liam did to our foster daughter? You don't see how much this predator has ruined her life to the point where she struggled to open up to anyone for so long and is still struggling with the emotional trauma he has inflicted . Brandon has been nothing but supportive of her and bravely put himself in harm`s way to protect her."

Lena caught herself for a moment and stood up. "Mr. Pierce there`s no way we would ever agree to your deal, especially when Brandon did nothing wrong. Not to mention that it would take him away from the people who cares about him. I think that i`ve done all the talking that i want to. Come on Brandon, lets go."

As Lena stomped out of the room, Stef had a slight grin on her face to indicate how proud she was of Lena, while Mike could only shrug his shoulders at the A.D.A as he and Stef got up and followed Lena and Brandon out of the room.

"I think that you got your answer." Andrew said. "I guess we`ll be seeing you in court."

As the quintet walked back to the elevator, Mike motioned to Lena to come meet him by the corner. "It took a lot of balls saying that back there." He said.

"Thanks Mike." Lena replied.

Although Mike had his share of issues with Lena over the years, he gained a new respect for her after hearing her speaking on Brandon`s behalf.

"We better get going." Lena said as she and Mike went to get in the elevator.

Dinner at the Foster house had more of an air of tension given that Lena was still stewing over the meeting earlier in the day. Stef made a point of keeping her away from any sharp instruments in the kitchen, while everyone else stayed out of Lena`s way as much as possible. Even Jesus, who usually griped about washing the dishes, dutifully did them and dried them off quietly. A few hours later, Stef and Lena headed upstairs to bed. As Stef finished checking on the kids and saying good night to them, she came back in the room and found Lena sitting in the bed where she was struggling to read a book. Stef knew better than anyone how Lena was whenever she bottled up her emotions.

"How come you`re still on that page?" Stef asked as she pulled back the covers on her side of the bed.

"Oh i lost my train of thought." Lena replied.

Stef gave Lena a look of concern and then rubbed her dark curly hair. "I think you still have what happened earlier today on your mind and it`s bothering you."

Lena put her book down on the night stand and looked back at Stef. "I feel so angry that Brandon is having to go through this."

Stef stared at the brooding Lena for a moment before rolling over to Lena`s side to sit next to her. "I think that this is more than just about Brandon."

"Just being in that building brought back memories from when Callie was in court. I still can`t forget about how courageous she was telling the truth about what Liam did to her and the jury didn`t bother to listen to her because of her record. So instead of Liam being locked up, he was out free to go after Callie again."

Lena took a moment to gather herself. "I`ve struggled with this for a while, but sometimes i think we would`ve been better off having Brandon, Jesus and Mike go out to find Liam somewhere and just beat him to a bloody pulp. It`s pretty sad that i`m losing faith in the justice system to be in favor of Vigilantism. I mean how can i go about trying to teach students about the justice system when it`s so screw up?"

Stef felt her heart sinking at the sight of Lena shedding a couple of tears and immediately placed her hand on top of Lena`s. "I`m so sorry that you feel so angry and disillusioned right now." Stef said as she wiped a tear from Lena`s face. "I feel that way too, but you know what? All it does is make me want to fight even harder for Brandon. What you said to the A.D.A. was such a amazing defense for Brandon. We have keep on fighting for him and tell everyone what a great young man he is and how he had the courage to stand up and defend Callie and himself from an abusive bully."

Lena immediately began to feel better after listening to Stef. "You know Mike told me that it took a lot of balls saying what i said to the A.D.A."

"For once i agree with Mike." Stef said, getting a laugh from Lena.

Lena then turned out the lights and she and Stef took their places in bed, with Stef giving Lena a kiss on her forehand and cuddling her. Both ladies now felt a newfound vigor to fight even harder for Brandon and to face whatever challenges were ahead.

To be continued... 


End file.
